Check out the AFL-CIO's new In Our Communities website feature, "Recovering After Superstorm Sandy."

The recovery from Superstorm Sandy could be one of the most expensive in American history, with estimates climbingtoward the $50 billion mark in property damage alone. As Americans all across the country pitch in, most of the work repairing and rebuilding the storm-ravaged areas will be done by talented and hardworking union members. Many of the organizations dealing with Sandy’s devastation emphasize the importance of union workers’ expertise and skill, as well as of sufficient government financial support for rebuilding physical structures and roads and, in many cases, people's lives. Here is what our members have been doing to help with the recovery:

"The Role of Government During Natural Disasters" is a cross-post from the IAFF Frontline Blog by Rich Duffy of the Fire Fighters (IAFF).

The devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast is a great example of why we need a centralized federal government that can respond to states and communities in need of disaster relief.  Hurricane Sandy also underscores a very important issue for Americans, and that is what role the federal government should play in during a disaster (man-made or natural).

Working people up and down the East Coast are pitching in to alert people about the clean up efforts for Hurricane Sandy and provide information for transportation, shelter and other resources. Firefighters, public employees, utility workers, letter carriers, nurses, grocery store employees, hotel workers and others continued to work through the storm to make sure everyone is taken care of. Once again, we’re reminded that work connects us all, and we’re better together. Here are some unions and agencies you can follow on Twitter and Facebook who've been hard at work during the storm:

More than 300 union and community activists "unwelcomed" Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) to Kalispell, Mont., yesterday with signs and chants letting him know that there’s no room in Big Sky Country for the anti-worker, anti-union, education and health care cutting policies that mark his record.

Check out the AFL-CIO's new In Our Communities website feature, "Firefighters Give Back to Their Communities On and Off the Job." 

It’s hard to miss a burly firefighter in a bright pink T-shirt. And for tens of thousands of Fire Fighters (IAFF) union members across the country, that’s exactly the point. When the public sees them in pink tees, they are reminded that breast cancer is a deadly disease requiring regular exams and mammograms. And they are urged to help women who can’t afford regular check-ups.

As millions of Americans took a moment this morning to remember the tragedy that occurred 11 years ago on Sept. 11 in New York City, Virginia and Pennsylvania, military veterans who’ve found careers through the Ironworkers, Laborers (LiUNA), Heat and Frost Insulators and Bricklayers (BAC) are rebuilding the World Trade Center in New York.

Take a minute to watch the YouTube video in the post. 

 Other unions spoke out in honor of those who lost their lives on 9/11 and the members who made a difference that day:

This is a cross-post from the Fire Fighters (IAFF) union. 

IAFF Local 48 member Doug Stern from Cincinnati spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday night.

Stern says for the majority of his life he identified as a Republican. But with last year’s political assault on Ohio’s public employees, he felt that the Republican Party left him and other members of the middle class behind.

We are saddened to report that Utah State AFL-CIO President and Fire Fighters (IAFF) member Jim Judd passed away Thursday from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. 

Read the AFL-CIO statement here. 

Union Sportsmen's Alliance sends us a preview of this week's "Brotherhood Outdoors" on the Sportsman Channel at 8 p.m. (EST) which airs Thursday, August 2.

Scott Walsh, a third generation member of Fire Fighters (IAFF Local 1561), from Eastpointe, Mich., grew up hunting small game and deer. But in 2010, when Walsh and his family decided to take a risk and adopt a rescued bird dog, everything changed.

Members of the Fire Fighters (IAFF) were some of the first responders at the recent Aurora, Colo., movie theater shooting. Aurora Local 1290 firefighters not only assisted at the movie theater but also at alleged shooter James Holmes’ apartment.